The Bridging Program for Women:
A CCLOW Model that Works

En collaboration avec Regina Plains Community College, le CCPEF offre actuellement un programme très réussi de formation, de consultation et d'orientation aux femmes qui veulent entrer au sein de la population active ou changer de carrière.

Ce programme-relais propose à toutes les femmes qui en ont besoin divers cours et services de soutien.

Le cours le plus demandé est celui sur la planification professionnelle et les options d'emploi, où les participantes apprennent à mettre au point un plan de carrière et à créer un groupe permanent de soutien personnel. Parmi les autres services offerts, mentionnons une préparation à l'entrée sur le marché du travail, un club de recherche d'emplois, un service de placement temporaire et divers cours spéciaux.

Plus de 500 femmes ont pris part aux séances d'orientation; plus de 200 se sont inscrites à diverses composantes du programme; presque toutes se disent très satisfaites. Ce qui fait sans doute le succès du programme, c'est qu'il est d'une grande souplesse quant aux horaires et que le personnel est réellement déterminé à répondre aux attentes des participantes.

A highly successful program in Regina may offer a model for educational services to women entering or re-entering the workforce or seeking career changes. The Bridging Program for Women (BPW), a joint project of the CCLOW Regina Network and the Regina Plains Community College, is more than a series of courses: it is an innovative combination of courses, counseling and referral services, and ongoing support groups. It works because it is flexible and based on the needs of participants. Courses are scheduled to meet their interests. The staff go to great lengths to adjust schedules to the varied time-tables of women. And the counseling and self-help elements prevent isolation, and give women the emotional support to pursue their goals.

The B.P.W., directed by former CCLOW President Lenore Rogers, is administered by Regina Plains Community College, but is not integrated into its general offerings. It has its own budget, and is unique in operating under the guidance of an Advisory Committee, made up of women in the Regina Community with a particular interest in enhancing learning opportunities for women. The Committee, whose members are recommended by the CCLOW Regina Network, has been established to ensure that the BPW adheres to its basic philosophy, and continues to grow and evolve as an innovative example of what education can be for adults and especially for women.

Since the BPW started in May 1985, over 500 women have attended initial orientation sessions and small group interviews. Some were referred to other appropriate local educational and personal support agencies. Over 200 women have gone on to enter one or more of the other components of the program. (As of June 15, there were 114 women on the waiting list).

Women of all education levels, incomes, ethnic backgrounds, and interests have participated in the Bridging Program. Based on surveys after the first year, the majority of the women (68%) had an annual income of less than $15,000. Almost half (47%) had worked at unskilled or semi-skilled occupations - most of them in female job ghettoes. The exception was the Entrepreneurial and Business Skills (E.B.S.) component: perhaps significantly, women entering this course tended to be employed, often in semi-professional occupations, and to have higher educational and income levels than the participants as a whole.

Although the Bridging Program for Women is open to all women, it is particularly committed to serving:

• women with disabilities
• native women
• women re-entering the workforce
• under-employed women
• women whose jobs are disappearing because of technological change
• young women who have not yet joined the workforce.